Yakuza way of living
The Gaijin ’s Games Yakuza organizations are rigid and formal, with clearly defined hierarchies and ancient traditions enforced with draconian efficacy; sometimes to get things done the Yakuza need to bend, break, or ignore those rules—and that means shadowrunners. Gaijin (outsiders) especially are popular choices because they have no loyalty to anyone in the organization, no connections to them, and no real concept of jingi or giri. It is a delicate business to keep balance between not being connected enough and not knowing enough to be useful, while at the same time knowing enough and having the right connections to stay alive and profit from it. Let’s be honest, running for the Yakuza is almost as dangerous as running against the Yakuza Coda Modern criminals like to make fun at the romantic image of the Yakuza, with their antiquated traditions and excessive formality. But those same traditions have kept the Yakuza together for centuries while other criminal organizations have collapsed in on themselves. Yakuza traditions bind them together and set them apart from their competitors, and whether you work with them or against them, you need to know how they operate and why. Jingi Japanese society is based on social recognition of superiority, showing appropriate deference to those above you and expecting the same from those below you, which is collectively embodied in the concept of jingi. The Yakuza is built on jingi; the basic organization of the gumi depends on the Oyabun-kobun relationship, where everybody knows their immediate superiors, underlings, and the people of about their same level. More than just knowing your place, jingi is concerned with proper behavior. The Yakuza stand outside the normal social order of Japan, but they still have their place in Yakuza society. So part of jingi is behaving in a fashion that does not reflect badly on the gumi as a whole—adding to the gumi’s reputation for violence is acceptable, but wanton violence that causes significant civilian casualties is not. Dressing loudly and being rude in public is fine, but when you’re at a Yakuza function you better be polite and properly attired. Giri If you haven’t been brought up Japanese, it is hard to get a grasp on exactly how fundamental and important giri, the devotion to fulfill an obligation, really is. It goes way beyond quid pro quo and eclipses mere gratitude—when you do a favor for a Yakuza member they will remember it and repay in kind. Of course, they also expect other people to do the same. The Yakuza knows about life-and-death obligations better than most; in the underworld where reputation is everything, a Yakuza member who fails to fulfill an obligation shames not only himself but his entire gumi. Combined with jingi, giri is the driving force of most Yakuza members. Just by being accepted into the organization, they not only have to defer to their new boss but they owe him—for their livelihood, for taking them into the gumi, for the irezumi on their shoulders, everything. Where jingi can bind the loyalties of a Yakuza member to their boss and subordinates, giri provides additional ties to others in the organization, strengthening loyalties and binding the gumi closer together. Power brokers in the Yakuza secure themselves by doing favors for others. Ninjo When a Yakuza Oyabun talks about being the protector of the people or keeping thieves from operating in his nawabari because it harms the people, he’s displaying ninjo. Somewhere between empathy and sympathy, ninjo is kind of an aspect of jingi where the Yakuza, as an elevated person, is responsible for protecting the common man (generally human Japanese nationals, but sometimes just anybody in their territory). The Yakuza like to dress themselves up as a community service, protecting those who can’t afford cops or private security. Yakuza who practice ninjo don’t target civilians. Oh, sure, they’ll break somebody’s arm if they’re behind on a payment, take his wife as their new mistress in exchange for a gambling debt, burn down a house for an insult and kick a dog for being ugly, but when it comes to Yakuza-on-Yakuza violence, innocent bystanders are very rarely harmed. You don’t see a lot of drive-bys and very few exploding school buses. Girlfriends, spouses, children, and relatives are viable as hostages, but the Yaks know that if they play ball their loved ones will be released more or less unharmed. Unlike jingi and giri, ninjo has pretty much fallen by the wayside and is now little more than a show for the marks. Rituals Beyond their codes of honor and behavior, the Yakuza have formalized and ritualized aspects of their lives and business to a large degree. While less universal than the concepts of jingi and giri, rituals like sakasuki and irezumi are very widespread in the Yakuza, though they see far more regional variation. Irez umi In Japan, tattooing (irezumi) is traditionally associated with the criminal elements of society, particularly with the Yakuza. I’m told the practice started when the government used to tattoo criminals to mark them for their crimes, and then criminals turned around and embraced the practice to mark themselves and demonstrate their notoriety. Of course later on decorative tattoos became more respectable, and certain dashing figures popularized the practice by being inked, so who really knows? In any event, traditional gumi are very into tattooing, particularly expensive full-body suits done by hand using the old techniques. Oyabun and senior kobun sometimes award loyalty and good service by subsidizing trips to the tattoo artist, even to the point of keeping certain artists “in house” solely to service members of the organization. Hand-inked traditional tattoos are also the most common medium for quickened spells in the Yakuza, though the practice remains fairly uncommon—you have to have a fairly puissant sorcerer and a master tattoo artist. Sakasuki Sake-sharing is a time-honored Shinto ritual used by the Yakuza to seal promises and bonds of loyalty, most notably the induction of new Yakuza into the gumi and the establishment of the Oyabun-kobun relationship. Sakasuki ceremonies also feature prominently during weddings, truces, big business deals, and when a gumi joins a rengo. The act itself is fairly simple but highly ritualized, sometimes requiring a third party (often a Shinto priest) to set everything up correctly, pour the sake, say the prayers, etc. Both parties take a sip of sake out of the same cup. That’s really the bulk of it; it’s like an incredibly formal and stylized shaking of hands. Yabitsume Finger-cutting is a traditional (I bet you’re all loving that word by now) punishment that was a lot more meaningful before effective prosthetics and clonal phalanges. Of course, the really nasty part is that Yakuza members are expected to cut off their own fingers, on pain of shame, dishonor, and the Oyabun getting pissed and ordering a couple of his boys to do something nastier to you as an example to the others. On (very) rare occasions, yabitsume is used as a demonstration of protest when it would be rude for the Yakuza member to speak up against the boss. Kumicho Ichiwa Ren of the Ichiwa-Kai comes to mind; he wanted to punish the association’s tattoo artist Horimaho after the old man’s work gave his son a staph infection that almost killed the young man. All six of the Ichiwa-Kai’s senior kobun—and who had benefited from Horimaho’s magical protections—cut off their own fingers and presented them to the kumicho instead. After all, the hiroshi couldn’t continue his work without his fingers. Category:Crime Syndicates Category:Yakuza Category:Traditions